People with AS can tolerate change...

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Um... no they can't last time I checked. OK, so I am living in a care home and I have a timetable which I like to stick to. I was told I would be having a certain member of staff allocated to my 1-1, however halfway through my 1-1 she was told to take someone out. I got upset and screamed and shouted. Basically the care home manager rang up and had a go at me because I said I don't like change. She said that people with AS don't mind change. When I challenged her on this, she basically accused me of faking my ASD and then said 'I've worked with people with AS for 9 years'. So that makes her an expert?

OK so I am seriuosly upset now and even doubting my own diagnosis. Is this statement true or am I right in thinking its a load of bull?

P.S I am at an 'autism exclusive' care home so you'd think the staff would know about it...

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

Wow, that's terrible. You'd really think staff at a place like that would know better..

I'm not sure what to suggest, honestly. I don't think it's anything up with your diagnosis, for what it's worth. She just sounds like one of those annoying people who claim to know more than they actually do.

What they're saying about Asperger's syndrome is a bunch of BS. People that have that need a routine and structure. Change comes very slowly. They need to take basic psychology again, because they are dead wrong on autism, dead wrong. They sound like fools to me.

I have AS and I don't mind change, I got used to it so I don't have a cow about it anymore. I just freeze up but it depends on the situation.



But what she said, she was a load of bull. How can she not know that about AS if she had been working with them for 9 years?

My job, and my life often, has me chopping and changing places, routines, people, roles etc etc I fly all over the place, meet new people, and a new job wherever i go. I not only have to cope with change, I have to welcome it. It does drain me, but I got to go with it.

However, I drop into a routine very quickly, and can get cranky if It unexpectedly changes or I can't do what I intend/expect to do when I want to do it.

But, we are all different, and I think the OP has the routine thing very rigid, which I understand is a thing for some aspies. The staff should be aware of that, and its bad form that they aren't.

It depends on what portion of AS you're looking at.

Traditionally, it's people with Kanner's Autism (i.e., aloof social behaviour as a child/adult and speech delayed and possibly cognitive delayed), who can't handle change. However, the more severe cases of AS seem to have similar problems with such (Attwood).

um some can

I generally tolerate it, but it ultimately depends on what the situation is.

I can handle some change. Look at the cahnges I've made, over the past three months. There are other changes that I can't handle. I have special interests that have lasted for over 10 years.

To me, it depends on what change and on the situation.
If it's a small change, I don't mind. Nor if it's a bigger one where I have time to get used to the thought.
It's more difficult if it's a bigger, abrupt one.
Or if it's a lot of small changes that come rapidly after each other.
Or if it's a small one and I am tired or stressed.

From most of the people with AS that I know, they CAN handle change. They might prefer a routine, especially if they live independantly and have more things to worry about than those that still live at home.

Then again, they don't live in a group home. It's generally assumed that those who NEED to be in a professional facility are on the severe end of their diagnosis spectrum. Therefore, they should understand that you would be significantly more upset by schedule changes than an average person with AS.

Of course I can tolerate change.

(For what it's worth, I can't tolerate the slightest of change to my routine I've created to get through the day. I become very upset if there is change.)

Usually the "intollerability to changes" decrease with both intelligence and age in the AS range, Kanner's autistic people have it worst. Between loving routines and screaming out on changes there is a whole spectrum of possibilities, for istance I love to change argument/topic of interest, etc.. pretty frequently for my mind "enjoyinment" but I dislike changes in my ambient. I like to sit always in the same spot, but it's since 3-4 years old that I've stopped screaming about it. I think that the main issue is not If you like changes or not but how much you can tollerate the stress done by changing things. I hate changes but I have an high tollerance to stress, so usually my behavior doesn't show it.

By the way, each Asperger is different, if you don't really tollerate changes, they MUST accept it.

Isn't accepting the same as tolorating?

Don't let her undermine your self-confidence.

Notice how she hopped from one argument to another completely different one - first she says your ASD doesn't make it difficult for you to cope with change, then she says you don't have ASD. Sounds like she'd have said anything to make you appear to be the villain of the piece.

Autistic people do of course often have great difficulty with change - presumably that's why the diagnostic criteria include restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. One question from my diagnosis:
How do you react to changes in routine (e.g. going on holiday, altering plans at the last minute, changing from work time to holidays or vice versa)?

And from the Aspie-Quiz we have:
It does not upset me if my daily routine is disturbed

Therefore she doesn't know what she's talking about. I love her desperate appeal for you to defer to the authority of her long experience - truly the last refuge of the soundrel. Nine years is a long time to work with autistic people without learning anything from it, but I'm sure it can be done, with enough arrogance.

As for my relationship with change, it's pretty fraught as a rule. If I make a change to my routine, I'll usually think it through carefully and make the change gradually, with proper consideration for its impact on my life. I get bored too, and sometimes enjoy change just for the refreshment value, but this is my life and I'll manage the changes at my own pace and in my own style - I do not want some pompous do-gooder ramming it down my throat.